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"My Span of Years" by Japanese poet Arakida Maritake (1472-1549) was composed on his deathbed, and on his birthday.

It encompasses an emotion that those of us at a certain age know well.

Not only was Mr. Maritake on his deathbed the day he wrote this Haiku, it was on his birthday.
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Matsuo Basho, a famous 17th century Japanese poet, wrote more than 1,000 haiku poems. Here is one of them for you to enjoy. I added a little music to go along with it, striving to keep the sounds simple so as not to interfere with the conceptual beauty of haiku.
I love haiku poems. I love the way they evoke striking images and ideas with such brevity.

In music , as in life, it's difficult to set out on a seperate and personal path.

First you have to choose a direction, one based on personal skills and interests.

Then you need to find helpers, friends who share your interests and want to join you in your explorations.

And there are always the usual rocks and gullies to navigate around, wrong turns and other complications. It takes time and hard work and the most difficult part (for me at least) an unshakable focus towards the job in hand.

But when you ultimately succeed a creation is born that is unique, an out of the ordinary experience for the listener.

In my opinion Celestial Navigation is on this path and has been for a while.

Composer, violinist/violist, Didem Somel, is an award winning musician who is also vocalist and keyboard. Her jazz oriented solos on violin Saturday were outstanding.

Glen Anderson, a jazz bassist has a long resume that includes the Tower of Power Horns among other well known bands.

Here is my latest video. The music is my most modern electronic, ambient and experimental yet. The video is from videoblocks.com. BTW, I'm always interested in working with animation artists who would be interested in collaborating on new projects.

With all of the news about Russia in the media, I thought it would be a good time for me to talk about one of my favorite Russian composers, Dimitri Shostakovitch.*

Currently I'm reading an extraordinary memoir by the composer, Testament, a book I intend to review in the near future on this blog.

Aside from being a fan of his music most of my adult life, I've always been fascinated by Shostakovitch's life story.

Early on he was considered a young and upcoming talent in the Soviet Union, having attended the Petrograd Conservatory then under the famous composer Alexander Glazunov.

The career of Shostakovitch as a composer began to rise in the Soviet Union when he met the famous conductor Bruno Walter in 1927. Later that year Walter conducted Shostakovich's 1rst Symphony in Berlin.

But after the Soviet Union's propaganda organ Pravda attacked the Shastokovitch opera Lady Macbeth and in a 1936 article "Muddle Instead of Music," Shostokovitch was in danger…

E ī h w a z: A photographer is able to produce a dramatic group of black and white photos with minimal music using percussion, horns a drone effect and vocals for a strong dramatic effect. You can find it here.

Why Do We Lie? That is the title of the latest National
Geographic magazine. It's amazing that such a question even has to be asked in this country. Yet it does and we will. The politicians who are lying will continue to do so until they are kicked out of office by the only entity that can do so: the citizens of the United States of America.
Truth Tired was written when others were tired of hearing the truth because facts just don't add up to the results that they're looking for. So they become Truth Tired. That's why I wrote this piece. I hope you like it.

Strangers in Their Own Land
If you want to look into why people lie and why others believe them check out this book

For the best explanation of how compression works check this out at the Home Studio Center YouTube page.
I got this directly from Brian Eno through one of his posts on twitter.

This video by Dave Valles is fantastic for ppl using Sonar Platinum. In it he quickly highlights ten command keys that I already know will save me tons of time in the future. I highly recommend Sonar users to subscribe to his YouTube page.

Two Minute Music Meditation
Looking to relax and take control of your mind? Here's something to try.
Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit.
Set your feet flat on the floor. If you have ear buds or head phones put
them on. Sit straight, relax your muscles.
Activate the music, shut
your eyes and let the music be your mantra. When the song ends open
your eyes.

Brian Eno is a musician. He is also a big thinker and has the ability to pull together information and ideas from the greatest intellectuals, past and present, to unveil the tools people can use to create a sustainable present and future for themselves and everyone else.

Warning! You must watch to entire video to find out.
You can hear Mr. Eno speaking on the subject here

My new album that I worked on for most of 2016 is now available on here: Grafiti Blues.

Grafiti Blues is a collection of original songs that I've put together using computer generated sounds -- including hip hop style beats -- along with audio trumpet improvisations. As always, the music is created solely from the imagination of ZeroPlusOne.

I started out writing music on the computer using Cakewalk Home Studio program back in `04. During the years that followed, I upgraded three of four times until I reached sonar 8.5. I've invested many, many hours learning how to use the software as it was developed for producers in the recording industry rather than pencil and paper composers like myself.

Now Cakewalk is migrating into the cloud (which means large monthly leasing fees). Evidently a lot of people, including me, took umbrage with that idea. So, Cakewalk made an offer to those of us who are not fond of the idea of paying monthly fees to replace what we have already bought, they offered up a new version of Platinum with lifetime upgrades PROVIDED that you buy it ($300) before the first of the year. So, that led to a lot of people trying to download the program last week; with (I suspect) much consternation and heartache and little support.

I was able to download the program to my computer but with multiple probl…

In music , as in life, it's difficult to set out on a seperate and personal path.

First you have to choose a direction, one based on personal skills and interests.

Then you need to find helpers, friends who share your interests and want to join you in your explorations.

And there are always the usual rocks and gullies to navigate around, wrong turns and other complications. It takes time and hard work and the most difficult part (for me at least) an unshakable focus towards the job in hand.

But when you ultimately succeed a creation is born that is unique, an out of the ordinary experience for the listener.

In my opinion Celestial Navigation is on this path and has been for a while.

Composer, violinist/violist, Didem Somel, is an award winning musician who is also vocalist and keyboard. Her jazz oriented solos on violin Saturday were outstanding.

Glen Anderson, a jazz bassist has a long resume that includes the Tower of Power Horns among other well known bands.

Last night my friend Nick dragged me out of my safety zone away from the comfort of my computer, keyboard, trumpets where I like to spend my spare time creating new music all by myself (hence the name ZeroPlusOne).

He wanted me to hear a band from New England, Parsonsfield at a local club in Bellingham, The Green Frog. Nick had heard the band years ago and thought they pretty good.

We settled down with a couple of root beers in the small, friendly confines of The Green Frog.

So, in previous blogs I've whined and complained about the lack of creativity in popular music today. It almost seems like the popularity of music today is determined by flashy advertising and music produced in slick, high quality recording studios where notes are tuned electronically and balanced through separate channels and tracks.

Last night I heard a group that was loaded talent and energy. The group used lots of non-traditional instruments such as saw, harmonium, melodica, accordian, electronic synt…